Tag Archives: ADF: Erik Stanley

Christian Post: Eric Stanley, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Tennessean the First Amendment affords religious groups special privileges. Overregulating churches, he says, would violate their religious freedoms. “What is really going on is that they don’t like the housing allowance,” he told the publication. “The foundation wants the government to be hostile to religion.”

Bob Smietna of USA Today at Religion News Service: But Eric Stanley, senior counsel of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom, said the First Amendment does give churches and other religious groups special privileges. He said that too much government regulation of churches would interfere with religious freedom. Stanley believes that the Justice Department has called the foundation’s bluff in the parsonage lawsuits. “What is really going on is that they don’t like the housing allowance,” he said. “The foundation wants the government to be hostile to religion.”

WBIR.com: But Eric Stanley, senior counsel of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom, said the First Amendment does give churches and other religious groups special privileges. He said that too much government regulation of churches would interfere with religious freedom. Stanley believes that the Justice Department has called the foundation’s bluff in the parsonage lawsuits. “What is really going on is that they don’t like the housing allowance,” he said. “The foundation wants the government to be hostile to religion.”

Christian News Network: “The report shows that black churches have, for lack of a better word, gotten away with it for many years,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who helped to advise the Commission in the compilation of the report. “Simply put, this gets the IRS out of the pulpit.” ADF says that it would like to see the Johnson Amendment struck down in the courts. The amendment, passed in 1954 and introduced by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, states that churches may not “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.”

Christian Post: Some churches deliberately engage in activities that violate the prohibition, but rarely face consequences. Since 2008, pastors across the United States (approximately 1,600 last year) have participated annually in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” an initiative orchestrated by Alliance Defending Freedom in which pastors deliver sermons evaluating candidates for public office in light of Scripture. Some support or oppose candidates by name and send transcripts of their sermons to the IRS with a request to be audited. They hope to spark litigation on the constitutionality of the law, but the IRS has not taken up the challenge.

Jeff Kunerth at Orlando Sentinel: “The report shows that black churches have, for lack of a better word, gotten away with it for many years,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, who gave advice on the commission report. “Simply put, this gets the IRS out of the pulpit.”

Sara Pulliam Bailey of Religion News Service at Daily Times: “The report shows that black churches have, for lack of a better word, gotten away with it for many years,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, who gave advice on the commission report. “Simply put, this gets the IRS out of the pulpit.” When ADF’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday began in 2008, about 30 churches participated in the attempt to challenge the IRS by sending sermon transcripts in a bid to invite an IRS audit. In 2012, 1,600 churches participated, but none of them has heard from the IRS, Stanley said.

Charisma News: “The report shows that black churches have, for lack of a better word, gotten away with it for many years,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, who gave advice on the commission report. “Simply put, this gets the IRS out of the pulpit.” When ADF’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday began in 2008, about 30 churches participated in the attempt to challenge the IRS by sending sermon transcripts in a bid to invite an IRS audit. In 2012, 1,600 churches participated, but none of them have heard from the IRS, Stanley said.

Washington Times: The Boy Scouts of America’s newly adopted membership policy — in which youths no longer will be blocked from joining the Scouts based on “sexual orientation or preference alone” — is “a sweeping change to its core values,” said Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal defense organization . . . What could happen is “somebody would come and say, ‘We want to use your church for a same-sex wedding ceremony,’ and the church would say, ‘Wait, we have a religious belief against that,’” said Erik Stanley, an alliance lawyer and Eagle Scout.

Kim Trobee of Citizen Link at Christian Civic League of Maine: Erik Stanley, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said hundreds of congregations are following Waynesville’s example. “I think we’re in a day where every church needs to have a statement in its bylaws of its doctrinal beliefs on marriage and sexuality,” he told Baptist Press. “This is a proactive approach that churches can take to head off any claims of discrimination in the future, should they occur.” ADF has drafted guidelines churches can follow to amend their documents. “When the government creates a new ‘right,’ it puts all its resources into enforcing that ‘right,’” Johnston explained. “Pastors and churches should move now to state the important doctrine of male-female marriage.”

Todd Starnes at Townhall: Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty legal organization, has already provided churches with sample bylaws that define marriage. “I think we’re in a day where every church needs to have a statement in its bylaws of its doctrinal beliefs on marriage and sexuality,” attorney Erik Stanley told Baptist Press. “This is a proactive approach that churches can take to head off any claims of discrimination in the future, should they occur.”

Erik Stanley at Christian Post: Texas-based Pro-Life Revolution applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS in January 2011–they received that status some 900 days later, on June 6, 2013 in a letter dated May 19. In the interim, they received letters asking for clarification and “more information,” and a March 2012 phone call in which IRS agent Sherry Wan told Pro-Life Revolution President Ania Joseph how the IRS expects tax-exempt groups to act, think, and speak.

Todd Starnes at Fox News: ADF attorney Erik Stanley said the actions of the IRS are simply unconstitutional.“The IRS is a tax collector; it shouldn’t be allowed to be the speech and belief police,” he said. “The agent seemed to be very biased and have an ideological bent against Pro-Life Revolution.”

One News Now: Erik Stanley is an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The IRS is a tax collector; it shouldn’t be allowed to be the ‘speech and belief police,’” says the attorney. “The current scandal isn’t really new but has merely exposed the abuse of power that characterizes this agency and threatens our fundamental freedoms.”

Erik Stanley at Townhall: Texas-based Pro-Life Revolution applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS in January 2011–they received that status some 900 days later, on June 6, 2013 in a letter dated May 19.

Charisma News: “Pastors should be able to speak truth into every area of life without fear or intimidation,” says ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday has always encouraged pastors to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to do just that from their pulpits. This year, marriage is at the forefront of public debate. There’s no better time for pastors to equip their congregations with the truth about marriage and why it matters for children, families, society, civil government and the church.”

One News Now: The church is integral to the moral stability of a society,” says Stanley. “Yet every day that pastors are intimidated into silence on issues like life, liberty, the family and marriage is another day the cultural erosion continues unchecked.”

Florida Today: “This year, we’re asking pastors to preach a sermon on the issue of marriage,” said Erik Stanley, the senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona advocacy organization. The reason: upcoming court rulings expected on same-sex marriage, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s expected action on California’s gay marriage ban in the next few weeks. “These two cases could very well redefine marriage as we know it. So there is a sense of urgency and pastors understand what’s happened in the marriage battle over the last year,” he said.

Christian Post: “Pulpit Freedom Sunday was started with the purpose of making sure that pastors are free to speak from their pulpit on the moral and biblical issues of the day without fearing any kind of government censorship or intimidation,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley in an interview with The Christian Post. During previous events, pastors would preach sermons evaluating political candidates and their positions in light of the Bible’s teachings. They would record these sermons and send them to the IRS “in the hopes of sparking a litigation challenge to the Johnson Amendment,” said Stanley.

World Net Daily: “The Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t give in to intimidation or abandon its values,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for Arizona-based ADF and an Eagle Scout. Scouting begins as young as 6 and continues through age 18. “The Boy Scouts should once again stand firm on moral principles that have successfully shaped our nation’s boys into leaders for generations,” says David Cortman, senior ADF counsel.

Barry Lynn of AU at Washington Post: Every year, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Religious Right legal group founded by radio and TV preachers, hosts “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” During this euphemistically named and highly choreographed event, a handful of misguided pastors openly break the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. Some send their sermons to the IRS and occasionally even send me a copy so I can forward them to the IRS. These churches didn’t just go up to the line, they leaped right over it.

Edmond Sun: Speakers for the event will Blair on the topic of “What Did the Founders Think? The Biblical Foundation of Government,” while Dan Fisher, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon and a state representative for District 60, will speak on “What Did the Founders Do? The Black Robed Regiment.” Erik Stanley, an attorney and senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, will speak on the topic “What Can We Do? The Rights of Christians and Pastors in 2013.”

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: But what should be reported is that the targeting by the IRS goes even deeper than what is just reported. Because the IRS has been targeting churches since the passage of the Johnson Amendment in 1954. There is no difference between what the IRS has been caught doing with conservative groups and what the IRS has done to churches for the last 59 years. Both are intimidation.

Peter J. Reilly at Forbes: Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the nondenominational megachurch, told me that they are planning to appeal. The argument is that, in Tennessee, universities can run bookstores without affecting their property tax exemption and “family wellness centers” can run fitness clubs (As a matter of fact, the church has turned operation of the fitness center over to the YMCA), so churches should be able to also run both of them. For whatever it is worth, neither operation was a money maker.

Peter J. Reilly at Forbes: The church was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. Erik Stanley of ADF had commented earlier in the litigation: “Tax exemptions for churches are vitally important because it doesn’t make sense to penalize organizations that help serve the community and don’t exist for profit–and that’s certainly true with this church,” Stanley explained. “The taxing authorities in this case determined that the facilities were not integral to a religious purpose of the church, but the government is ill-equipped to determine what is and what isn’t a legitimate religious use. That’s why it shouldn’t be delving into church affairs. Doing so violates the constitutionally protected rights of the church.”

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: Forcing churches to stop hosting Scout troops is a big step in the process of sidelining churches. And we’ve seen enough attempts to render the Church irrelevant in the community.

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: America is in the midst of a debate on the definition of marriage, the foundation for a stable society and a stable home. Americans desperately need to hear from their pastors what God says about marriage, the institution He created. This year, our country faces one of the most pressing issues in our history as efforts are underway to radically redefine the institution of marriage, the relationship that God established long ago in the Garden of Eden even before the Fall of mankind. . . . With all this in mind, Pulpit Freedom Sunday 2013 will be a Sunday focused on marriage.

Michael Foust at Baptist Press: Bylaw language defining marriage in the biblical sense doesn’t mean a church won’t face a suit or a complaint, but it does mean the church would be in a much better situation legally, said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for ADF. “I think we’re in a day where every church needs to have a statement in its bylaws of its doctrinal beliefs on marriage and sexuality,” Stanley told Baptist Press. “This is a proactive approach that churches can take to head off any claims of discrimination in the future, should they occur. There’s no magic language for such a bylaw statement, but it should be some form of a statement of the church’s religious beliefs.

One News Now: Stanley tells OneNewsNow the Fredericksburg City Council claims the children are dangerous. “What it really boils down to is just that the city council is exhibiting a really prejudicial attitude and stereotypes about disabled kids,” he states. “These children are not dangerous. There’s no evidence that they’ve ever been dangerous, but yet the city council denied zoning because of their fear.”

RealTruth.org: Partly as a result of this action, ministers across America risked their status as tax-exempt charities and tackled politics from the pulpit: “About 1,600 pastors across the country violated a 58-year-old ban on political endorsements by churches in October by explicitly backing political candidates in their Sunday sermons, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom of Scottsdale, Ariz., a conservative Christian legal organization behind a campaign called Pulpit Freedom Sunday” (NBC News).

Rev. Robert A. Crutchfield at Faith That Inspires Action (includes Erik Stanley Audio Soundbite): Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley will be available for media interviews Tuesday following his oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit seeking reinstatement of a church school’s lawsuit against the city of Fredericksburg. In 2011, the city council refused to allow a church to begin a school program for mentally and emotionally challenged children even though city planning officials recommended approval.

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: Pastors must proclaim that God’s truth does not and will not change. Abortion is just as wrong today as it was 40 years ago. And it will be wrong forever. And forever is a lot longer than forty years.

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: This lawsuit is really about two things. First, it is about generating publicity for Freedom From Religion Foundation. A quick lawsuit, even if it gets dismissed at a later point, can earn some headlines. But secondly, this lawsuit is about fostering FFRF’s radical agenda. FFRF, a group of radical separationist atheists, envisions a future where the tax code is used against churches and pastors to punish them for speaking out on issues of candidates and elections.

Edwin Ekene at allAfrica.com: Actually, it was a debate between Erik Stanley, the head of the Pulpit Initiative for Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance of Christian attorneys in the United States, and Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The title of the debate, which was published in the Los Angeles Times of September 23, 2008, was, “Why Don’t Churches Pay Taxes?”

Erik Stanley at LifeNews: Well, ninety days have come and gone since over 1,500 pastors participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday on October 7,2012. And the IRS has not taken any action against any of the pastors who participated. Actually, the title of this blog post could have been “Four years and Counting” because Alliance Defending Freedom first launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008.

Mercury News: “Since 1954 and the Johnson Amendment, the IRS has set itself up as the pulpit police,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for Alliance, which has about 2,200 lawyers assisting with the initiative. Stanley said his group supports the free-speech rights of pastors on both sides of the political aisle. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday is really all about protecting a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit and not be intimidated or censored by the government for doing so,” he said. His group at some point wants to generate a “test case” in hopes of having the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional. Alliance may indeed have a case.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley will be available for media interviews following his oral argument Tuesday at the Arizona Court of Appeals in defense of a church facing an illegally assessed property tax bill that would force it to shut down.

Everyday Christian: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) started Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008 to challenge the 1954 Johnson Amendment that prohibits tax-exempt churches from making political endorsements. ADF hoped the IRS would take action so that a lawsuit could be filed that would repeal the law. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections,” ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley told Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link last month. He added that the purpose of the October event was “to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

World: “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections,” ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley told Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link last month. He added that the purpose of the October event was “to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

Christian Post: Churches shouldn’t be treated differently than other entities in Tennessee – such as college bookstores, family wellness centers, and hospital gift shops – that are tax exempt by law,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley in a statement.

Nick Vadala at The Philly Post: Headed up by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group out of Arizona, the stunt essentially makes a mockery out of the IRS’s code enforcement. Most endorsements, unsurprisingly, go to Romney or Republicans generally, but that’s beside the point. Endorsement on either side is simply against the law . . . Erik Stanley of the ADF told the Washington Times that the FFRF’s lawsuit “borders on frivolous” and that it probably will go nowhere in court. There’s also very little chance that the FFRF will be able to prove they’ve been done damage by the IRS’s un-enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. But even if they could, as much as I hate to say it, he’s right about the lawsuit missing the mark . . . All I hear when pastors endorse Romney (or Obama, or Jill Stein, or whoever) is “charge us, we would like to contribute to the society that pays our way.” Let the ADF think they’re freedom fighters for the religious set; it’ll cost them eventually.

Tennessean: The preachers and their allies at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based Christian legal group, say the ban is unconstitutional. More than 1,000 preachers nationwide endorsed candidates in this year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, in hopes of prompting IRS investigations. So far the IRS has not responded. Now those preachers may have their day in court, with help from an unlikely source – the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

God Discussion Blog: For the past few years, religious right groups have been encouraging pastors to endorse candidates and political matters from the pulpit during “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The effort has been spearheaded by the Christian advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund) and actively promoted by groups such as Liberty Counsel. At least 1,500 pastors reportedly participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” this year, on October 7.

Washington Times: “I think the lawsuit itself really borders on frivolous. I don’t know how the FFRF can claim they’ve been harmed by the IRS‘ refusal to enforce the Johnson Amendment,” Mr. Stanley said. “But, on the chance it does, then we will seek to protect those churches.”

Citizen Link: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said churches shouldn’t be treated differently than other entities. “It’s a widely known fact that churches across America effectively use facilities such as gyms and bookstores for clear religious purposes and are exempt from property taxes just like other organizations that serve the community — often at a loss,” he said. “Really what the state was doing was attempting to define what ministry was for Christ Church by telling them that they can’t use their facilities to reach out to evangelize, to build up their own membership.”

Christ Church Pentecostal is appealing a lower court’s decision to deny the church tax-exempt status on part of its property under the argument that they are not an integral part of the church’s ministry even though the facilities, a gymnasium and non-profit bookstore, are used exclusively for ministry outreach. Tennessee law allows similar facilities that are not on church property to be tax-exempt.

NBC (includes several videos of pastors): About 1,600 pastors across the country violated a 58-year-old ban on political endorsements by churches in October by explicitly backing political candidates in their Sunday sermons, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom of Scottsdale, Ariz., a conservative Christian legal organization behind a campaign called Pulpit Freedom Sunday . . . The Alliance Defending Freedom asserts that it’s working to further the rights of all religious groups, but it’s an explicitly Christian organization, with a heavy representation of evangelical members and leaders. One clue to its philosophy is that it made it Pulpit Freedom “Sunday” — choosing the Christian Sabbath, instead of more broadly embracing the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) and the Muslim day of worship (Friday) . . . But Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said it’s clear that the agency is sidestepping the issue. “We surmise the IRS has shut down all its church audits,” Stanley said. As time goes on, he added, “It may become clear that the IRS has taken the position that it will not censor a pastor.”

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Recently, an IRS official was quoted as saying that the IRS had suspended auditing churches. Does this mean that the IRS has thrown up its hands and given up on enforcing the tax code against churches? The answer is “no,” the IRS has not given up and the tax code still applies to churches. The IRS official was Russell Renwicks with the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities division. He said that the IRS had received some complaints about potential violations of the tax code by churches this election cycle. But he stated, “We are holding any potential church audits in abeyance.” What did he mean by this? Mr. Renwick’s statement stems from a 2009 court ruling involving the IRS’ regulations related to church audits.

Matt Barber at LIfe News: The jig is up. The news is out. Pastors across America have called the left’s bluff. The empty words “separation of church and state” – a phrase found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution – have lost their sting . . . But there’s a back story. Since 2008, the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has spearheaded a First Amendment exercise called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” Since then, thousands of pastors across America have boldly exercised their guaranteed constitutional rights by addressing “political” issues from the pulpit. This has included directly endorsing candidates. These pastors have dared the IRS to come after them and, not surprisingly, the IRS has balked.

Christian Post: Jim Garlow, who leads Skyline Church in San Diego, announced from the pulpit that he is voting for Mitt Romney, but stopped short of a blanket endorsement. “My endorsement will be Jesus,” Garlow said. “I’ll tell you whom I’m going to vote for, but I don’t think that makes it an endorsement. I’m going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I’m not telling you to.” Garlow’s announcement came during a campaign known as “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” which was promoted by the Alliance Defending Freedom and held on Oct. 8 of this year. The intent of the campaign was to make pastors and churches aware of the legal rights in addressing political and governmental issues. “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor – and not the IRS – decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

Hollywood Reporter: Organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, its goal is to force a response from the IRS so that the issue can be resolved in a court of law, said the group’s senior legal counsel Erik Stanley. “The 58-year-old Johnson Amendment in the tax code — which is what the IRS uses to restrict what pastors can and cannot say from the pulpit — is unconstitutional,” Stanley said.

Wisconsin State Journal: On Nov. 4, the Rev. John Clark plans to get a few things off his chest, possibly breaking the law in the process . . . Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Erik Stanley, its senior legal counsel, said pastors should be able to say whatever they want to their followers, even to the point of endorsing political candidates. “It’s the pastor’s job to decide what to preach from the pulpit, not the IRS’s,” he said.

ProCon.org: Eric Stanley, ADF’s senior legal counsel, said in a statement that the IRS “has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court. It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.” According to Stanley, after the sermons are delivered, pastors participating in the event are “encouraged to send videos of their remarks to the IRS.”

The Right Perspective: The Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement, launched in 2008 by the Christian legal ministry Alliance Defending Freedom, argues the 501(c)(3) federal tax code that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from speaking for or against a political candidate is an incursion on freedom of religion and freedom of speech . . . “The ADF wants to elect the next president. They want to elect Mitt Romney,” Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told CNN. “This is not about some principle.”

Karen Gushta at the Christian Post: But Erik Stanley, Senior ADF Legal Counsel, says “the AU is using an unconstitutional law to try and intimidate and scare churches.” The problem, says Stanley, is that the Johnson Amendment “is blatantly unconstitutional.” As he wrote at Townhall.com (10/8/2012) those who argue that this is a “taxation issue” are missing the point that this is in truth a free speech issue. “Pastors have been applying scriptural teaching to circumstances facing their congregations for centuries,” writes Stanley. “This is not ‘political’ speech. Rather, it’s core religious expression from a spiritual leader to his congregants. That kind of expression is at the very center of the freedom of speech and religion protections in the First Amendment.” According to Stanley, “The real question is this: When has the government ever been allowed to condition any government-recognized status (such as tax-exempt status) on the surrender of a constitutionally protected freedom?”

Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog: The Alliance Defending Freedom promotes Pulpit Freedom Sundays (and there have been several) to provoke a ruling against the church from the IRS and create a case that the organization plans to use to have the “Johnson Amendment” ruled unconstitutional . . . Project 21 member Archbishop Council Nedd II — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church . . . “I don’t understand why my fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ want to use their precious pulpit time to talk about Caesar rather than God.” Furthermore, Archbishop Nedd suggests that discussion of public policy can be a part of a perfectly acceptable religious service that would not put the church in harm’s way from IRS scrutiny . . .

CNN Belief Blog (includes video): In a sermon that likely broke the law, Indiana pastor Ron Johnson told his 400 congregants Sunday that for those who believe in the Bible, the decision to vote against President Barack Obama “is a no-brainer.” “For Christian people who believe the Bible is the inspired world of God, it is not rocket science,” Johnson told CNN after his sermon . . . The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that, and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” said Erik Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson Amendment as unconstitutional.”

One News Now: Stanley says that as in previous years, ADF is in a wait-and-see mode. “… We’re still waiting to see whether the IRS is going to react, and we’ll continue to wait,” he comments. “So if they do, we will be prepared to represent these pastors and churches and to seek to have the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional and removed from the books once and for all.” [more]

LifeSiteNews: “America’s founders would have agreed, a pastor is the one who should determine what he says from the pulpit, not the federal government—and that is as it should be,” said Erik Stanley, who headed the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Pulpit Initiative. Participating churches ranged from Baptist, Pentecostal, and Church of Christ to Anglican, Lutheran, and United Methodist. Only 10 institutions appeared to be affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, including . . .

LifeNews: “Pastors should decide what they preach from the pulpit, not the IRS,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas …

Joe Carter at Acton Institute Power Blog: I should clarify, however, that while I may have religious objections to preachers endorsing candidates during church services, I believe they have the right to do so. Indeed, they should be able to freely exercise those rights without having to endure government intimidation. As Stanley says in a recent op-ed, “Just as with those other rights, free speech is a constitutionally protected freedom, not a privilege that the government can grant or revoke while dangling the tax-exempt status of the speaker’s church over his head.” [more]

Article 3 Blog: The Alliance Defending Freedom hopes that these premeditated violations will provoke the IRS to take notice, and hopefully bring the issue to court. To garner attention, pastors sent send videos and text copies of their politically charged sermons directly to the IRS. Eric Stanley, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said: The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate [pastors’] sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court. It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.

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Life News: If you’re considering an abortion and want answers, help, or someone to talk with, send an email or chat online with OptionLine.org or call Pregnancy Line at 866-88-WOMAN. LifeNews Note: Kristi Burton Brown is a pro-life attorney, volunteering for Life Legal Defense Foundation and as an allied attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom. She is also a stay-at-home mom and an assistant editor for Live Action News. This column originally appeared at Live Action News and is reprinted with permission.

Pew Research: While Europe is not the region with the highest level of religious hostilities – that remains the Middle East-North Africa region – harassment and attacks against religious minorities continue in many European countries. Indeed, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, hostilities against Jews in particular have been spreading.